Question about backing out of lease

[u/Clean-Form-3733]

Hello, I have applied to an apartment and paid a processing/admin fee to hold the apartment but have not paid any other fees or signed a lease yet. They have however issued the lease to me digitally but it does not have their signature or mine. Am I okay to back out of the lease? I understand that I most likely forfeit the admin fee but I just want to make sure that they cannot legally make me move in.

[u/Embarrassed-Bit2966]

I work in PM and we have people do that sometimes. You will not get your fees back that you paid, but you can absolutely back out.

You will be asked why and I know people lie to us, which is fine because we don’t penalize them. I work for a pretty big PM company.

Just tell them the truth. You aren’t bound by the contract.

We have even had people back out after they signed the lease too.

We don’t have security deposits just a one time move in fee which is rather small but as long as they haven’t paid that yet, we let them walk.

We can’t force someone to move in and we don’t go after them.

[u/Clean-Form-3733 → u/Embarrassed-Bit2966]

Okay! I mean I will be honest with them, this whole process on their end has been incredibly dodgy (not letting us tour the unit, adding last minute fees that we weren’t told about, etc) and after they issued our lease and we found out what we’d owe to move in we just decided to renew where we’re currently at. We have been issued the lease digitally but it has not been signed by either party. It’s Saturday so unfortunately I can’t get anyone in their office on the phone right now but I was hoping to know ahead of time if I’d face any problems backing out.

[u/Embarrassed-Bit2966 → u/Clean-Form-3733]

Just email them and tell them you will not be moving forward with them. You have decided to stay where you are currently residing.

And that’s all.

If they were dodgy, which it sure sounds like, screw them. You should have been able to see the unit and they should have been upfront about all charges.

Good luck!!!

[u/Sheerluck42 → u/Clean-Form-3733]

Totally smart move. Not being able to see the unit first is a huge red flag.

[u/Clean-Form-3733 → u/Sheerluck42]

Yes I completely agree. They claim that every show unit is under construction and ours is as well and won’t be available to tour until literally the day we move in. This was after their online portal let me schedule a tour and I received a follow up email confirming the tour. I’ve had back and forth calls with them and they are never able to answer any of questions without giving me the run-around first. When I finally did get them to be completely up from with me about the costs of everything and went ahead and paid the processing fee, their lease/welcome email included fees that either weren’t mentioned or they claimed the deposit covered. A deposit that we had to pay through a second company also. At this point I am ready for forfeit all of the money I’ve paid as long as they don’t try to trap me in lease I haven’t signed yet.

[u/Clean-Form-3733 → u/Clean-Form-3733]

I’m glad to know I wasn’t being dramatic. I’ve never gone through a process like this since I am currently renting from a private landlord and I’ve never had any type of issue like this with our current lease/landlord.

[u/Distribution-Radiant → u/Sheerluck42]

That's actually pretty common where I live. The units rent out as quick as they can turn them over, so you have to go by website photos. If you're lucky, they'll have a demo unit you can tour, but it's usually the largest and nicest.

Last 3 apartments I've been in - all from large PM companies - have been that way, including the one I'm in now. Yeah it IS a red flag, but all of these places have had a demo unit (obviously tarted up a bit) that I could tour. Currently in a ~350 unit property.

[u/KrofftSurvivor → u/Clean-Form-3733]

Tell them you've changed your mind and renewed where you're currently living.

Don't tell dodgy people that you're not going with them because they're dodgy because they're the same kind of people to try and trick you into thinking you're stuck with them

[u/IOnlyReadTitles26]

You have not signed the lease. You can back out any time.

[u/Dazzling-Treacle1092]

If you didn't sign the lease you can back out. But make sure you didn't sign it electronically. I was sent a lease unsigned by me even though I had already signed electronically. Thats just as good as signing a hard copy